After watching squirrels in our yard, we decided to conduct an 1. investigation of their behaviour. We had a 2. theory that squirrels could be trained to do tricks if they were offered the right food. So first we had to 3. research what squirrels really like to eat. It turned out that there are no 4. studies on this topic, so we had to use 5. trial and error to find out: we put out six different kinds of nuts and snacks on trays and observed which the squirrels ate the most. They liked potato chips the best. So we made the type of food the
6. variable. Our 7. hypothesis was that the squirrels would come and take potato chips from our hands, but not peanuts. We stood in the yard holding chips and nuts, but no squirrels came to take any food. After 8. observing the squirrels for a while, we realised that they had gotten very well-fed while we had been trying to find out what they liked. We are maybe not the best
9. researchers after all.